The beginning

Ok, so here goes nothing!  It's nearly a miracle already that I am trying to start this thing, so we can only hope it will last longer than 1 post!!  So why adoption?  You have 3 beautiful children at home, and 1 sitting at the feet of Jesus, why do you feel the need to bring another one into your home?  These are all questions that you may ask of us!  Trust me, some people have!  Besides the BIG fact that the Lord has called us to action by adopting a child, and we are walking in obedience, we couldn't think of a reason NOT to.  I realize the action of adopting a child into your home, is not a calling given to everyone.  However, for our family, this was beyond a shadow of a doubt, the right thing to do, and the way we are "caring for the orphans." James 1:27.  We also, cannot get away from the picture that adoption paints of the gospel, of our adoption in Christ. 
 We too, were hopeless, wrecked in desperation without the chance of survival. 

 "But God demonstrates His love for us, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Rom 5:8  

 Our prayer is that Micah's adoption will mirror the gospel, God adopted us.  We ARE children of the King of Kings!  But not because of anything we did.  He loved us SO much that He sought us out, bought us, and made us His own just as Christ, through His precious Son Jesus Christ and His death on the cross.  

"In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ." Eph 1:4-5.  

David Platt has an awesome quote that says, "We care for orphans, not because we are rescuers, but because we are the rescued."  

I am fully aware we cannot change the fact that there are millions of abandoned and orphaned children here in the States and abroad.  However, we can change the life on 1 child.

We wanted to have a blog to document our adoption process, and keep our family and friends in the loop about where we are in the process.  The ironic thing is, we are almost at the end!  So I'm here to do a little recap.

"May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to You, my Rock and my Redeemer."

My prayer for the blog is that it would be a reflection of NOTHING but our Creator's faithfulness and power.  We are but vessels for His use on this earth.  My prayer is my life and words, and the lives I brag share on this blog would continually point you to Jesus Christ.  

"He is before all things, and in HIM all things hold together."  Colossians 1:17

We feel like God has been preparing us for this special time in our lives for years now.  This was no quick decision.  Trace and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary next May, and since we've gotten married, adoption has always been topic of discussion.  I have wanted to adopt a child(ren) since, really as long as I can remember.  As I grew older, the desire only deepened.  As Trace and I got married, we talked about adopting would be something we would be open to, but weren't sure when the Lord would lead us to it.  About 3 years ago, we started researching adoption, and countries we felt led to adopt from.  So how did we decide on China?   I have a very cliche yet honest answer.  China was clearly the place God led us to.  During this time of research, we kept an open heart, and tried to be sensitive to when the Lord would give us a go ahead.
In September of 2012, we were sitting at a rehearsal dinner for some dear college students involved in the college ministry.  The groom to be was adopted at I believe 11 weeks, and had 4 older siblings.  I sat and watched this slide show of him growing up in this family, and it seemed so seamless.  Before I could catch myself, tears were streaming down my cheeks and I turned to Trace and said, "I think it's time." We couldn't have been MORE on the same page.
At the time, our 3 precious children at home were, Taylor, 6, Gray, 3, and Cayden was almost 11 months.  We went home and had narrowed our search down to 2 countries, and as we were closing in on making our decision, we discovered one country had closed adoptions down for the time being.  The decision to adopt from China was so very clear!  The Lord was so good and gracious to confirm this for us.  China, as do all countries, has requirements to be able to adopt.  The biggies were, both parents must be 30.  I had turned 30 earlier in July, and Trace had just turned 30 in September.  Also, the youngest child in the home, had to be 1 year old.  Guess what, Cayden turned 1, 3 weeks after we submitted application to Lifeline!   God. Is. Good.  He didn't have to give us confirmation in our obedience; He calls us to have blind faith, but He did confirm so very clearly!  Praise the Lord!

So there are the whys of our adoption, or at least the beginning!  We have been on our journey for 1 year and about 2 weeks at this point, and will post a timeline of our milestones on the blog!  
We are currently waiting on TRAVEL APPROVAL!  This means that everything has been approved and processed with the entire process, and now we wait for China to tell us they are ready for us to come pick him up!  After we receive Travel Approval, we should be able to travel within 10 days to 2 weeks!  

The kids are super excited about bringing home their new brother!  Taylor and Gray understand a lot more than Cayden, so I'm not sure Cayden is going to know what to do when Micah comes home!  It will be a huge adjustment to all, which frankly, I am just ready to start.  We have been educated, read books, watched seminars, and prayed prayed and prayed some more about this upcoming whirlwind.  And although I'm not naive to the fact that it will be a major adjustment period, I'm ready to begin!  We have been soaking up our time as a family of 5 the past few weeks, and will continue to do so until we leave!  I am continually humbled at the reality that the Lord gave me the family I have.  Leaving is honestly heart breaking for us to think about, but it's a means to an end, right?  We have to leave, to come back.  And then we'll be... The Hamiter 6.

I wanted to leave you with a few of our biggest prayer requests that we ask of you over the next few weeks!  

• safety and protection of Micah's heart, body and mind
• preparation of Taylor, Gray and Cayden's heart to welcome not only a new brother, but one that is 3, Chinese and can't understand a word that is spoken to him or spoken FROM him!:)  
• for Taylor, Gray and Cayden to NEVER doubt how special and loved they are over the next few months of adjustment
• preparation of my heart and Trace's heart to welcome this precious boy, and wisdom how to love him from the beginning!

Be looking for a post, where I'll introduce this 5th precious child that God has placed in our hearts and lives!